Scooter Store tracked, tagged doctors

Updated 1:43 am, Friday, March 22, 2013

The Scooter Store has been a fixture in New Braunfels since 1991, when the seller of power wheelchairs and scooters was founded. Amid allegations of fraud, the company faces an uncertain future.

The Scooter Store has been a fixture in New Braunfels since 1991, when the seller of power wheelchairs and scooters was founded. Amid allegations of fraud, the company faces an uncertain future.

Photo: TOM REEL, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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The Scooter Store Headquarters in New Braunfels, as seen on Feb. 18, 2009, is surrounded by parking spaces for its 1,400 employees.

The Scooter Store Headquarters in New Braunfels, as seen on Feb. 18, 2009, is surrounded by parking spaces for its 1,400 employees.

Photo: TOM REEL, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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The Scooter Store in New Braunfels recently furloughed employees and was raided as a part of an investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

The Scooter Store in New Braunfels recently furloughed employees and was raided as a part of an investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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The Scooter Store in New Braunfels recently furloughed employees and was
raided as a part of an investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

The Scooter Store in New Braunfels recently furloughed employees and was
raided as a part of an investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Scooter Store advertisement.

Scooter Store advertisement.

Photo: HANDOUT

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Doug Harrison, as seen on June 28, 2001, started The Scooter Store in New Braunfels in 1991. The New Braunfels company used to take in $200 million a year from sales in 22 states.

Doug Harrison, as seen on June 28, 2001, started The Scooter Store in New Braunfels in 1991. The New Braunfels company used to take in $200 million a year from sales in 22 states.

Photo: Robert McLeroy, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Scooter Store Vice President Chris Bailey in New Braunfels as seen on Oct. 4, 2010.

Scooter Store Vice President Chris Bailey in New Braunfels as seen on Oct. 4, 2010.

Photo: JERRY LARA, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991. The New Braunfels company used to take in $200
million a year from sales in 22 states.

Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991. The New Braunfels company used to take in $200
million a year from sales in 22 states.

Photo: Robert McLeroy, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991. Harrison and wife Susanna sit in a special painted car in front of new facility under construction on June 28, 2001, in New Braunfels.

Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991. Harrison and wife Susanna sit in a special painted car in front of new facility under construction on June 28, 2001, in New Braunfels.

Photo: Robert McLeroy, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991.

Doug Harrison founded The Scooter Store in
New Braunfels in 1991.

Photo: Robert McLeroy, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Agents stage in their car at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels as the FBI and other agencies conduct a search warrant at the facility on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents stage in their car at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels as the FBI and other agencies conduct a search warrant at the facility on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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An FBI agent hurries into the front of the building after exiting his vehicle as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

An FBI agent hurries into the front of the building after exiting his vehicle as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL, San Antonio Express-News

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Agents stage from their vehicle in front of the building as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents stage from their vehicle in front of the building as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Agents enter the building No. 1 as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents enter the building No. 1 as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Agents walk in building No. 1 with boxes as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents walk in building No. 1 with boxes as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Agents cluster at the front door of building number 1 as FBI and OIG raid The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents cluster at the front door of building number 1 as FBI and OIG raid The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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An agent stands at the front door of the building No. 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

An agent stands at the front door of the building No. 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL, San Antonio Express-News

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Employees leave in the rain as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Employees leave in the rain as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Employees exit building No. 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Employees exit building No. 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Employees leave building No. 1 with belongings as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Employees leave building No. 1 with belongings as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Employees leave with belongings as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Employees leave with belongings as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Agents take boxes into building No. 1 as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Agents take boxes into building No. 1 as FBI and OIG conduct a search warrant at The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL, San Antonio Express-News

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An agent stands at the front door of the building number 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

An agent stands at the front door of the building number 1 as FBI and OIG search The Scooter Store in New Braunfels on Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo: TOM REEL

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Scooter Store Senior VP Tim Zipp talks on his cell phone in the side yard of building No. 1 at the New Braunfels company location before getting in his automobile and exiting the scene as federal agents from the FBI conduct a search warrant inside on Feb. 20, 2013. less

Scooter Store Senior VP Tim Zipp talks on his cell phone in the side yard of building No. 1 at the New Braunfels company location before getting in his automobile and exiting the scene as federal agents from ... more

Photo: TOM REEL

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Theresa Jones has written an e-book on The Scooter Store titled "Behind Closed Doors." The New Braunfels resident and her husband are both former employees and are currently seeking new employment after the company let employees go. Jones said her book can be found on Amazon. less

Theresa Jones has written an e-book on The Scooter Store titled "Behind Closed Doors." The New Braunfels resident and her husband are both former employees and are currently seeking new employment after the ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Scooter Store tracked, tagged doctors

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The Scooter Store used a coding system to tag doctors across the country for their willingness or reluctance to prescribe patients power wheelchairs, according to two ex-employees.

The coding system allowed Scooter Store representatives to steer potential customers to doctors with a track record of prescribing power-mobility devices if the patients' own physicians wouldn't write the prescriptions.

The system was revealed in a just-released e-book by Theresa M. Jones, 24, a four-year Scooter Store employee who was among the approximately 1,500 workers permanently laid off this week.

“Green signified we had great success with the doctor,” Jones said in an interview.

Her e-book is titled “Behind Closed Doors: The Truth About The Scooter Store From a Former Employee.”

A red dot indicated the company was unsuccessful working with a doctor to prescribe a chair, Jones said. A gray dot was assigned if it didn't have a history with the doctor.

Another terminated employee, who didn't want to be identified, confirmed the coding system. She said there was “big push” by management to get mobility devices for patients whose primary-care physician and/or medical specialist wouldn't prescribe one.

“There was a lot (of) pressure to ... find them a new doctor,” the employee added.

A Scooter Store representative didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday.

“It's absolutely doctor-shopping,” Patrick Burns, a spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud in Washington, said of The Scooter Store's coding system.

Burns added: “When you doctor-shop for drugs, we kind of understand that that's immoral, even if it's not illegal. If you go to a doctor and he writes a prescription that's not medically necessary, that's illegal. Here, it's a little bit squishy as to what the standards are for a (power) wheelchair.”

The company stopped using the coding system following the Feb. 20 raid on its New Braunfels headquarters by about 150 federal agents, according to Jones and the ex-employee.

More Information

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mySA.com: A look at the Scooter Store.

Authorities presumably are investigating possible Medicare and Medicaid fraud, though Scooter Store CEO Martin “Marty” Landon has said the company isn't a probe target.

A spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which reimburses suppliers for power-mobility devices sold to Medicare and Medicaid patients, didn't respond to a request for comment.

A federal source familiar with the probe confirmed the company had a system to identify doctors who would prescribe mobility devices. It's unclear if the doctors were knowingly involved in gaming the system, the source added.

Both Jones and the unnamed ex-employee said the company never plied doctors with money, dinners or any kind of gift to persuade them to write prescriptions.

“We were so prohibited from doing that,” the ex-employee said. “That was the one thing they were really clear on. The closest we came was we ran a 'Thank Your Doctor' campaign to make sure everybody said thank you to their health care professional.”

Following the raid, the former employee said The Scooter Store was instructed by CMS to stop sending patients to the same doctor more than twice. Medicare sometimes was billed for three or four doctor visits as patients tried to get a device prescribed, she said.

One former Scooter Store employee told CBS News in a January report that the company's goal is to “bulldoze” doctors into writing prescriptions. The report questioned whether power wheelchair suppliers were “ripping off the government” by selling devices that weren't medically necessary.

Jones disputed that in her book.

“Doctors are professional adults who, I would hope and assume, are not susceptible to peer pressure and/or bullying in any way,” Jones wrote. “The Scooter Store did not bully or pressure doctors.”

The Scooter Store has had trouble dealing with cuts in reimbursement and changes in claims-processing procedures in recent months, problems that were exacerbated by the federal raid, Landon noted in a March 10 email to employees.

The company furloughed most of its 1,800-person workforce earlier this month, but later brought back about 300 people — including 117 at its headquarters. It's now trying to create a “viable business model” to continue operating.